“I have a stomach ache, I hurt the abs, I cried too much, I said goodbye to the public and that makes me one of the luckiest athletes in the world,” reacted “PML”, eyes, after having offered a moving tower of honor with the Girondin audience.
European champion in 2018, world bronze medalist in 2019, triple world-class vice-world champion over 60 m hurdles (2014, 2016, 2022) … Between 2012 and 2022, “PML” rose 12 times on an international podium, indoor or outdoor, in the Worlds or Europe, and displays one of the richest list of French athle.
A year after having failed to qualify for the Paris Olympic Games and after having mentioned for the first time wanting to end his career, the 33 -year -old Hurdleur had announced that Talence would be, for good, his last dance on the track and we had felt very stressed from the series the day before.
“I’m not going to lie to you, for me these French championships, these are world championships,” said in the mixed area Pascal Martinot-Lagarde, who first planned to end his career at the end of winter before being surprised by offering himself a final selection with the blue-white-red jersey during the indoor worlds in Nankin (China).
On Sunday in the final, the French record holder managed to contain his emotion even if he admitted that he had “really wanted to cry before even running”. “I have never had such heavy legs,” he said.
It was very heavy to wear to say, once in the starting blocks, that after it was over.
Once the finish line has been crossed, “PML” was finally able to let the tears flow through all weekend, before having a long tower with the public of Talence, many and connoisseur. “It was tears of it is over, we hang up the tips and we never put them again,” he said. “I don’t even know how much I did, I don’t even know what place I made. I don’t care. I wanted to say goodbye and it’s done. If we can summarize in a word, it’s thank you ”.
For his farewells, the Hurdleur which has long been a spearhead of French athletics has run in one of the most raised finals in the history of the French athletics championships. He even almost attended the fall of his old French record (12 “95 in 2014) with the victory of Just Kwaou-Mathey who became the third French in history on Sunday under the 13 seconds (12 sec 99), after” PML “and Ladji Doucouré.
He really inspired our entire generation, welcomed Just Kwaou-Mathey after his victory. He made 12 “95 in 2014 and it is a race that I still look at a lot and there I am very happy to do 12 seconds on his last race to him, it’s a bit like a witness.
“I hope Pascal has like, frankly,” added Sasha Zhoya, second Sunday in 13 sec 18. “It’s nice to see all the athletes, the oldest and the youngest, in the process of hitting each other”. If he ends his career with a French record that is still holding, Pascal Martinot-Lagarde hopes that he will soon fall thanks to the generation behind him led by Kwaou-Mathey and Zhoya. “Me, I say goodbye, but France remains a very strong country on the discipline” praised “PML”.
But I hope that the record will fall to get the international medals, he insisted. “Because 12 sec 99 is great but to get gold, you will have to go even further.